Fake shopping sprees and ‘happiness insurance’: The latest fintech apps reveal our financial anxieties

In this excerpt from "Neanderthals Among Us," author Peter Sahlins looks at the way Neanderthal extinction theories are often engrained with our own societal fears.

While the overall S&P/TSX Composite Index has risen by about 11% this year, the five-company telecom index fell by more than 16%

A major Ontario condo construction lender says it won’t relax its loan criteria for developers despite a sharp drop in projects and industry calls for more support. In the fourth year of the real estate downturn, developers have been shelving or postponing condo projects because mom-and-pop investors are no longer interested in buying preconstruction units. Individual investors used to account for the vast majority of preconstruction condo purchases in the Toronto region. The lack of investors means that developers cannot sell the amount of units required to qualify for construction financing. Lenders typically require 70 per cent of a project’s units be sold before they will provide the developer with financing to launch construction. “The 70 per cent remains a good metric,” said Kevin VanKampen, head of business banking with Meridian Credit Union, the province’s largest credit union that has been providing condo developers with loans for at least two decades. With condo prices falling, Mr.

Concerns can cause even the most experienced investors to feel panicky

Grace, 26, says working in a startup is ‘a grind’ but it’s easier to advance her career at a smaller company